Fugitive Fraudster Eric Conn Captured In Honduras

Eleanor Klibanoff

1 week ago

Eric Conn, a notorious Kentucky fraudster on the FBI’s “Most Wanted” List, has been picked up by authorities in Honduras, according to local officials.

The Honduras public magistrate’s office said that Conn was captured by police Monday as he came out of a restaurant in the coastal city of La Ceiba, according to the Associated Press. The office stated Conn is expected to be transferred to the U.S. on Tuesday.

Two Honduran newspapers, El Pais and El Heraldo, published photos of Conn with local police officers after his capture.

The FBI office in Kentucky declined to confirm Conn’s arrest.

The fugitive Social Security lawyer from Eastern Kentucky pleaded guilty to defrauding the federal government out of $550 million in lifetime benefits. Conn was under house arrest awaiting sentencing when he skipped town in June.

His escape garnered widespread attention and earned him a spot on the FBI’s list of most sought fugitives. But there have been bread crumbs for the feds to follow.

In October, the U.S. Department of Justice charged an alleged co-conspirator. Curtis Lee Wyatt allegedly bought Conn a car, tested security protocols at the U.S.-Mexico border so Conn would know what to expect and helped him escape from house arrest.

The pair allegedly spent a year on the plan — twice as long as Conn managed to remain on the run.